Local Entrepreneurs report growth, job gains

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The Columbus Dispatch • Monday November 16, 2015 7:36 AM COLUMBUS — The Columbus chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization’s annual EO Global Entrepreneur Indicator shows overall growth and opportunity in central Ohio. The indicator is intended to reflect top Columbus entrepreneurs’ economic experience during the past six months and their outlook for the coming six months. Seventy-five percent of those involved in the Columbus survey say employment rose in the past six months; the numbers were 70 percent in Cleveland, 56.8 percent in Cincinnati and 58.3 percent globally. However, only 60.7 percent of those surveyed locally expect an increase in hiring over the coming six months. That’s in contrast to 80 percent in Cleveland, 67.6 percent in Cincinnati and 62.8 percent globally. Those surveyed in Columbus reported strong profit and revenue numbers both in the past six months and in their outlook for the coming months, besting the percentages of the other Ohio cities’ entrepreneurs in most cases. “Central Ohio business owners are a real-world measurement of our regional economic business climate,” said the organization’s Columbus president, Rick Snide, in a statement. “We are excited to report that our business community is outperforming the rest of the global economy in nearly every indicator, including our outlook on the U.S. economy for the next six months. That is great news for local entrepreneurs, the local economy and the region.” The local Entrepreneurs’ Organization has 93 members, who are founders or majority owners of businesses generating more than $1 million in annual sales.